Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Blackwolf @ the Oscars 2012: Previewing the Show, Meeting the Team!

Y'know, events as usual come at your Dragonmaster faster than a speeding bullet! Fah! First of all, thanks a lot, NFL! In a rare bit of Twilight Zone-ishness, Super Bowl Sunday, February 5th, occurs just 48 hours removed from --- you guessed it --- Groundhog Day! Fie 'pon the mysteries of Father Time for even daring to force this foolish Mage into this unexpected conundrum! From Punxsutawney Phil to the force of the Super Bowl! What circumstances caused this unlikely gathering of the Moons? say I!

And as if that ain't weird enough, Madonna is headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show, presented by Bridgestone Tires. She's teaming up with the sillies of Cirque du Soleil for a 12-minute provocative something. I wouldn't put it past the Material Girl, given her thirst for unpredictability. Most of this is largely to cash in on that W.E. movie she's directing (Aye, and fie 'pon ye as well, Harvey!).

But enough nonsense! My mission this morning is to introduce you to the team who will assume responsibility for the 84th Annual Academy Awards, so let's get on with that:

* DON MISCHER, Executive Producer/Director: This is his second shot at supervising an Oscar Night telecast; everybody in need of a decent special, from Disney to say, the Monkees, has trusted Don Mischer Productions; clearly, were I an A-lister, I would not hesitate to follow that example!

* BRIAN GRAZER, Co-Executive Producer: Mr. Imagine has a real big job ahead of him: filling the space left when Brett Ratner had to quit his status as co-producer when he dared to grumble about .... well, let's not beat a dead horse about it. Suffice it to say, the twit simply opened his mouth and inserted his bloomin' foot, by Merlin's beard!

* BILLY CRYSTAL, Host: God has returned to the Kodak Theatre stage, my dears. I can't put it any plainer than that.

* JOHN MYHRE, Production Designer: Making his first appearance as a member of the behind-the-scenes team, John, a double-Oscar winner and triple-Oscar nominee, has created some of the most fascinating sets for film and television. Cool!

* BOB DICKINSON, Lighting Designer: Bob has long brought the sheer harnessing power of being a lighting designer to every Oscar show. The Academy can no doubt count on him again this year.

* MICHAEL B. SELIGMAN, Supervising Producer: Mike celebrates his 35th anniversary of association with the Academy, having racked up a whopping 300-plus live events to his credit and nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations! Excellent!

* HANS ZIMMER and PHARRELL WILLIAMS, Musical Consultants: Eight-time Oscar winner Zimmer and 10-time Grammy Award winner Williams are teamed up for their first major session as members of Oscar's behind-the-scenes unit. Their musical expertise will bring luster to the Best Original Score and Best Original Song segments.

* BRUCE VILANCH, Head Writer: You just DO NOT do the Oscars unless Brucie is the head writer. Period. Bruuuuuuce!!!!!!!

* DOUGLASS M. STEWART, Jr., Supervisor, Film Sequences: Doug knows the packages. So does your Dragonmaster. His tribute segments, Oscar's Necrology included, are the result of Doug's knack for editing and craftsmanship.

* TOM KANE, Telecast Announcer (tentative): To the booth Yoda returns, the show to take us through (though I cannot yet confirm that, in which case, I can only say, as ever, stay ye tun'd!).

Now, you guys do yourselves a favor on Tuesday morning, January 24th, as Supporting Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence joins Academy President Tom Sherak at the Sam Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, 8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific, to announce 10 of the scheduled 24 categories for the 84th Annual Academy Awards. Those 10 to be announced, as always, are:

* BEST PICTURE* BEST ACTOR* BEST ACTRESS* BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR* BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS* BEST DIRECTOR* BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY* BEST SCREENPLAY ADAPTATION* BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM* BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

But, as per our tradition, count on the ol' Diary of Magecraft to post all the gory details of the Oscar Nominees --- and I DO mean ALL of them! And, natch, after the telecast, this ol' blog'll share your dear Dragonmaster's post-Oscar chronicle (and, by Merlin's beard, I'll plum tucker meself out doing it, too!)!